STRUCTURAL - FUNCTIONALISM AND

ITS IMPORTANCE IN EXAMINING

SOCIO-CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND
POLITICAL CONDITION
WHAT IS STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM?

In sociology and other social sciences, structural

functionalism is a school of thought that holds that
each of the institutions, relationships, roles, and norms
that together make up a society has a purpose and is
necessary for the survival of the others as well as of
society as a whole.
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALSM IN THEORY
First, let's look at the history of structural functionalism. During
the 19th century, the world was becoming a much smaller
space. Trains and steamships had linked the world in a way no
one had thought possible. While many Europeans were starting
to think of themselves as superior, due to their more 'advanced'
culture, a French philosopher, named Emile Durkheim, noticed
this and started to think that society was made up of building
blocks that were focused towards a common goal. If people
stopped agreeing on those common goals, then society would
disintegrate. However, as long as most people agreed, society
would be fine.
In structural functionalism, individual institutions work
together in service of the whole.

For example, this image of a circular flow of money

through an economy demonstrates how something that
almost everyone can agree on, education, is made into a
goal. Of course, this only worked as long as everyone
was focused. If one group disagreed on where society is
going, then the whole thing falls apart. These social
bonds are very important.
The method of functionalism was based on fieldwork and
direct observations of societies. In the structural
functionalism approach, society, its institutions and roles,
was the appropriate thing to study. Cultural traits supported
or helped to preserve social structures.

Functionalism emphasizes the importance of the economy

for any society, and the income and self-fulfilment that
work often provides. Conflict theory highlights the control
of the economy by the economic elite, the alienation of
work, and various problems in the workplace.
The structural-functional approach is based on the view that a
political system is made up of several key components, including
interest groups, political parties and branches of government.

The structural-functional approach is derived from earlier uses of

functionalism and systems models in anthropology, sociology,
biology, and political science.

Structural functionalism became popular around 1960 when it

became clear that ways of studying U.S. and European politics
were not useful in studying newly independent countries, and
that a new approach was needed. 7
Structural-functionalism assumes that a bounded
(nation-state) system exists, and studies structures in
terms of their function(s) within the system.

For structural functionalists the question to be answered

is what does a structure (guerrilla movement, political
party, election, etc.) do within the political system (of
country x)? The goal is to find out what something
actually does in a political system, as opposed to what it
is supposed to do.
Thus, structural functionalists would not waste time
studying constitutions in Third World countries if they
found that the constitutions [structures] had little impact
on political reality.

Almond claimed that certain political functions existed in

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all political systems. On the input side he listed these

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functions as: political socialization, political interest

articulation, political interest aggregation, and political
communication. Listed as outputs were rule-making, rule
implementation, and rule adjudication.
Other basic functions of all political systems included the
conversion process, basic pattern maintenance, and
various capabilities (distributive, symbolic, etc.).
Structural functionalists argued that all political systems,
including Third World systems, could most fruitfully be
studied and compared on the basis of how differing
structures performed these functions in the various
political system. Structural functionalism is based on a
systems model. Conceptually, the political process can be
depicted as follows:
For analytical purposes the political system is considered
to be the nation-state, and the environment is composed
of the interactions of economic, social, and political
variables and events, both domestic and external.

The idea is that there are a number of actors in the

national political system (political parties, bureaucracies,
the military, etc.) and that the actions of all these actors
affect each other as well as the system.
The political analyst must determine the importance of these
actors in a particular political system. This is done by
analyzing the functions performed by the various actors. Any
changes in the system also affect all the actors. The feedback
mechanisms allow for constantly changing inputs, as actors
react to outputs.

Structural functionalists, like systems analysts, have a bias

toward systemic equilibrium, (i.e. toward stability). Such a
bias tends to make this approach conservative, as stability, or
evolutionary change, is preferred [and more easily analyzed],
to radical, or revolutionary change.
A problem which arises with this system-based model is
that the nation- state's boundaries are often permeable in
the real world, rather than being the neatly bounded
nation-state conceptualized by structural functionalists.

In other words, in the real world it is usually difficult to

state exactly what the boundaries are, leading to some
conceptual difficulties.
The parts of society that Spencer referred to were the social
institutions, or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on
meeting social needs, such as government, education,
family, healthcare, religion, and the economy.

Table 1: Some Social Behaviors According to Quexbook,

2018
 BEHAVIORS CONCEPTS
Occurs when an individual continues to
RITUALISM do things as prescribed by society but
forfeits the achievement of the goals.
Involves the rejection of both the
RETREATISM culturally prescribed goals as well as the
conventional means of attaining them.
Occurs when an individual has the
CONFORMITY
means and desire to achieve the cultural
goals socialised into him
A combination of the rejection of societal
REBELLION goals and means and a substitution of
other goals and means.
Talcott Parson (1902 - 1979) was an American
sociologist and functionalist who attempted to develop
and perfect a general analytic model suitable for
analyzing all types of collectivities. He was concerned
with how elements of society were functional for a
society as well as social order. His five pattern variables
are considered as five dichotomies to draw out the
contrasting values to which individuals orient themselves
in social interactions.
Table 2: Talcott Parson’s Five Pattern Variables of Role-
definition According to Quexbook, 2018
Pattern Variables of Role- Concepts
definition
1st - Affectivity vs. Affective Dilemma: deciding whether to express one’s
own orientation in terms of immediate
Neutrality gratification (affectivity)or whether to
renounce immediate gratification in favor of
moral interests (affective neutrality).

2nd - Self orientation vs. One’s role orientation is either in terms

Collectivity orientation of his/her own interests or in terms of
the interests of a group.
 Dilemma: There is an issue on whether to
3rd - Universalism vs. react to a certain social interaction “on the
basis of a general norm” or reacting “on the
Particularism basis of someone’s particular relationship to
you”.

4th - Achievement vs. Achievement- orientation places an

importance on the performance and
Acription emphasizes individual achievement while
Ascription-orientation refers to the innate
qualities of individuals.

5th - Specificity vs. This refers to the nature of social contracts

and how extensive or how narrow are the
Diffuseness obligations in any interaction. Specificity, is
when the definition of a role is in specific
terms while diffuseness is when role
obligations are extended outside the defined
role - expectations.
General Conceptual Diagram Durk et al. (2007) The
diagram below is a general conceptual diagram of
Structural functionalism. It shows that all of the different
organizations and institutions in society are
interdependent. When one institution in society changes,
other institutions accommodate that change by changing
as well, though the ultimate effect is to slow overall
change.
Specific Conceptual Diagram Durk et al. (2007) Below is a
chart depicting how deviance is functional for society and
how society responds to deviance. A "deviant" individual
commits an act that is deemed by the rest of society as
criminal, because it leads to public outrage and
punishments. Because a large portion of society respond to
the action as though it is deviant, this draws a boundary
between what is and is not deviant. Thus, deviance
actually helps to indicate what is not deviant, or, the
function of labelling behaviors or ideas as deviance is to
insure that most people do not engage in those behaviors.
A Structural - Functionalist Understanding of Deviance
Modified True or False
D. Directions: If the statement is correct, write Functionalism. If not,
underline the word which makes the statement incorrect, then write the
correct answer on the blanks provided before each number. Use a
separate sheet of paper.

__________________1. Several decades ago, some sociologists

thought that all of society interacts like this; where each part of
society had a specific task. They called this framework structural
functionalism.
__________________2. If people stopped agreeing on common
goals, then society would disintegrate.

__________________3. The method of Marxism was based on

fieldwork and direct observations of societies.

_________________4. The structural-functional approach is

based on the view that a political system is made up of several
key components, including interest groups, political parties and
branches of government.
__________________5. The parts of society that Parson
referred to were the social institutions, or patterns of beliefs
and behaviors focused on meeting social needs.

__________________6. Structural functionalism became

popular around 1990 when it became clear that ways of
studying U.S. and European politics were not useful in
studying newly independent countries.

__________________7. Talcott Parson was concerned with

how elements of society were functional for a society as well
as social order.
__________________8. Structural functionalists, like systems
analysts, have a fair toward systemic equilibrium, (i.e. toward
stability).
__________________9. For analytical purposes the political
system is considered to be the nation-state, and the environment
is composed of the interactions of economic, social, and
political variables and events, both domestic and external.
_________________10. A normal individual commits an act
that is deemed by the rest of society as criminal, because it
leads to public outrage and punishments.
F. Direction: Fill out the general conceptual diagram of
Structural Functionalism. Choose your answers inside the box.
Do this in a separate sheet of paper.

Culture Health Religion

Deviance Industry Science
Economy Knowledge Secularization
Family Race and Ethnicity Stratification
THANK YOU